Collapsible conveyor



May 31, 1960 1. H. HEwlTT, JR

coLLAPsIBLE coNvEYoR 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 15, 1955 m E @WML May 31, 1960 H. HEwlT-r, JR

COLLAFSIBLE CONVEYOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. l5, 1959 INVENTOR. Jqfvfezazf Jf.

BY @MIJ @nu nited States COLLAPSIBLE CONVEYOR Justin H. Hewitt, Jr., Thomasville, Pa., assignor to The Oliver Corporation, Chicago, Ill., a corporatlon of Delaware Filed Feb. 13, 1959, Ser. No. 793,101

8 Claims. (Cl. 193-35) Another object of the invention is to provide a gravity- Ifeed type conveyor which is exible for rolling up for storage, but rigid when extended for use.

darent A further object of the invention is to provide a collapsible gravity-feed type conveyor which is easy to construct and assemble, and hence economical to manufacture.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a gravity-feed type conveyor which can be rolled up for storage and which can be unwound to a desired length for use and which forms its own support for inclination of the portion unwound for use by the portion left un- Wound.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a gravity-feed type conveyor which can be rolled up for storage and which can be set on the ground or oor when unwound for conveying articles pushed therealong.

Another object of the invention is to provide a gravityfeed type conveyor having side rails formed by two series of pivotally connected links having overlapping, off-set body portions and overlapping, oli-set anges, wherein the pivotal connections are formed on the links themselves.

These and other objects of the invention will appear from time to time as the following specification proceeds and with reference to the accompanying drawings where- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a conveyor constructed in accordance with the invention and showing a rolled-up portion supporting another portion unwound for use;

Figure 2 is a plan view, partially in section, of a portion of a conveyor constructed in accordance with the invention;

Figure 3 is a side view, partially in section, of the structure of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is an exploded View of a typical conveyor constructed in accordance with the invention, with some parts omitted for clarity; and

Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line S-S in Figure 1 and illustrating a preferred construction.

With reference to Figure 1, a rolled-up portion of a conveyor constructed in accordance with the invention is generally indicated at 10, and a straight portion, ready for use and rigid under loads imposed by articles being conveyed, is generally indicated at 12. It will be noted that the side rails 16, 18 of the conveyor are formed Patented May 31, 1960 ice of pivotally interconnected flanged plate links 14 to be more fully described hereinafter. The ends of side rails 16, 18 may be provided with tie rods, such as tie rod 20 in Figure l, and through bolts (not shown in Figure l) or equivalent shafts and fastening means are provided to mount roller wheels 22, tubular spacers 24, supplementary rail segments 26, and flanged plate links 14, and to secure side rails 16, 18 in spaced parallel relationship.

Figures 2 and 3 illustrate an embodiment of the in vention in which some of the details of anged plate links 14 are shown more clearly. As shown best in section in Figure 2, the main body portion of each link 14 is composed of two portions 30 and 32 which are oset from each other. Each inwardly ofrset body portion 30 of a link 14 overlaps the outwardly oiset body portion 32 of the link 14 pivotally connected thereto. The rollers 22 and spacers 24 of Figure 2 may be identical to those of Figure l. A portion of a bolt or shaft 28 is shown in Figure 2.

As shown in Figure 3, the ange portion of each link 14 is composed of two portions 34 and 36 which are olfset from each other. When the conveyor is ready for use, as in straight portion 12 in Figure 1 each upwardly oiset flange portion 34 of a link 14 overlaps and is supported by the downwardly oiset flange portion 36 of the link 14 pivotally connected thereto.

When the conveyor is rolled up for storage, as in ro-lled-up portion 10 in Figure 1, a substantially round roll is easily formed, since in the first wind of the roll, the edge of a body portion 32 opposite ange portion 36 on links 14 other than the lirst will engage the body portion 32 of the previous link at the place on the previous link where the oset occurs between body portions 3i) and 32 thereof. In other words, the limits of pivotal movement of one link on a previous one are defined in one direction by the interference between outwardly offset body portions 32 of both links and in the other direction by interference between downwardly offset ange portion 36 on the trailing link and upwardly 0E- set ange portion 34 of the previous link.

Flange portions 34 and 36 may be provided with holes, as indicated at 38 in Figure 2, so that side guards may be easily installed when desired, or so that two sections of conveyor may be easily hitched together, etc.

The side rails 16, 18 have what might be termed righthand and left-hand links 14 as can best be seen in Figure 4, where the links are indicated at 14a and 14b. It will be noted that body portions 30a and 32a of links 14a are odset in the opposite direction from body portions 30b and 32b of links 14b, and ange portions 34a and 36a of links 14a project laterally oppositely from flange portions 34b and 3617 of links 14b.

Body portions 32a and 32b may be provided with integral rivets, as indicated at 40a in Figure 4, and the holes in body portions 30a and 30b may be made large enough to accommodate the rivets, as shown at 42a in Figure 4. The edges of the rivets may then be rolled over, as shown at 44a and 44b in Figure 5. After a series of links 14a has been thus assembled, and a corresponding series of links 141), the links, spacers, roller wheels, and supplementary rail segments are properly assembled on bolts 28 and secured by a nut 29 (Figure 5). Tie rods 20 (Figure 1) may be provided at the ends of the conveyor section.

It will be seen that a conveyor has been provided which can be rolled up for storage and yet is rigid in use when unwound and supported only at its ends. Also, a preferred method of assembling the links by means of integral rivets has been disclosed. Further, the edges of body portions 30 of the links 14 opposite flange portions 34 provide a bearing surface supporting roller from an extended position to accommodate rolling up thereof for storage and substantially straight and rigid in the opposite `direction when extended for use and supported at the ends thereof, said conveyor comprising two separate parallel side rails each formed of a series of 'pivotally connected anged .plate links, each link including a body portion having first and second parallel unalig'ned at parts offset from each other substantially by the thickness of one of said body parts, and a ange portion integral with said body portion and extending angularly therefrom and having first and second parallel unaligned at parts .offset from each other substantially by the thickness of one of said flange parts, the links of each of said series being assembled in a manner such that the first body part of any particular link is pivotally connected to and overlaps in a transverse direction the second body part of the preceding link and the second body part of said particular link is piovtally connected to and underlaps in said transverse direction the rst body part of the succeeding link, and, when said conveyor is in position and extended for use, the body portions of the links are vertically inclined and the rst flange part of said particular link overlaps in a vertical direction the second flange part of the preceding link and the second .ange part of said particular link underlaps in said vertical direction the first flange part of the succeeding link, a plurality of rollers, and means for mounting said rollers in spaced relationship from adjacent rollers longitudinally of the conveyor and between the two series of links for rotation about axes perpendicular -to said two series of links and for maintaining said two series of links in spaced parallel relationship.

'2. A conveyor .as claimed intclaim 1, wherein said means includes a plurality of shaft members extending between said two series of links and through the links Aof each series at the respective pivotal connections therebetween.

3. A conveyor as claimed in claim l, wherein said means includes a plurality `of shaft members extending between said two series of links and through the links of each Series at the respective piovtal connections therebetween, and wherein said plurality of rollers includes a plurality of rollers mounted on each of said shaft members, said conveyor Ihaving a plurality of tubular spacers mounted on each of said shaft members to maintain said plurality of rollers on each of said shaft members in spaced relationship therealong.

CTI

4. A conveyor as claimed in claim l, wherein each link between the end links of each series is formed with an integral rivet about which an adjacent link pivots.

5. A conveyor suiciently ilexible in one direction from an extended position to accommodate rolling up thereof for storage and substantially straight and rigid in the opposite direction when extended for use and supported at the ends thereof, said conveyor comprising two separate parallel side rails each formed of a series of pivotally connected plate links, each link having rst and second parallel unaligned at parts olset from each other substantially by the thickness of, one `of said parts, the links of each of said series being assembled in a manner such that the first part of any particular link is pivotally connected to and overlaps in a transverse direction the second part of the preceding link .and the second part of said particular link is piovtally connected to and underlaps in said transverse direction the irst part of the succeeding link, said links being vertically inclined when vsaid conveyor is in .position and extended foruse and being formed so that the first part of any particular link Ihasta portion projecting therefrom and overlapping in a vertical direction the second part of the preceding link, a plurality of rollers, and means for mounting said rollers in spaced relationship from adjacent rollers longitudinally of the conveyor and between the two series of links for rotation about axes perpendicular to said two series of links and for maintaining said two series of links in spaced parallel relationship.

6. A conveyor as claimed in claim 5, wherein said means includes a plurality of shaft members extending between said two series of links and through the links of each series at the respective pivotal connections therebetween. j

7. A conveyor as claimed in claim 5, wherein said means includes a plurality of shaft -members extending `between said two series of links .and through the links of eac-h series at the respective pivotal connections therebetween, and wherein said plurality of rollers includes a plurality of rollers mounted on each of said shaft members, said conveyor having a plurality of tubular spacers mounted onv each of said shaft members to maintain said plurality of rollers on each .of said shaft members in spaced relationship therealong.

8. A conveyor as claimed in claim 5, wherein each link between the en d links of each series is formed with an integral rivet vabout which an adjacent Ylink pivots.

References Cited in the tile of this patent.

UNiTED STATES PATENTS 2,378,652 Nobles et al. June 19, 1945 2,419,321 Lope Apr. 22, 1947 2,494,302 Mason Ian. 10, 1950 2,658,607 Moynihan Nov.V l0, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 616,895 Great Britain Jan. 28, 1949 

